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Chapter 29
“Erno! Behind you!”
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Erno’s sword rang out.
Though it had no eyes to perceive the outside world, no ears to hear it, not even a brain to process it, the monster’s lower half still retained the instinct to recognize a stronger opponent. Scraping along the ground, it tried to flee.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Erno drove his blade straight down, aiming precisely for the monster’s spine. The movement was clean and efficient, without a single wasted motion—but in that instant, black blood splashed onto Erno’s cheek.
“Ugh…!”
The stench of black death instantly numbed Erno’s nose. From that moment on, the fragile rationality he had been barely holding together collapsed all at once, and his heart began to pound violently, as if it were about to shatter.
“U—ugh! G-get away, now!”
It was the precursor to a rampage.
Erno desperately gathered what little remained of his cracked, splintering reason and shouted.
As his vision crumbled from the edges inward, dark red swallowing everything, the last thing he saw was the soldiers staring at him with terrified expressions—faces filled with fear of the version of him that was about to lose control.
The world was burning.
After staring blankly at the ominously red sky, Erno slowly lowered his gaze.
It wasn’t only the sky that was red. The ground beneath him was stained a deep, dark crimson as well. Amid a world drenched entirely in blood, only one thing stood out—a flower blooming in a vivid blue so sharp it seemed almost cruel.
As Erno stared at the blue flower in a daze, he suddenly realized that he was standing in a pool of blood.
“Uh… Mom… Mom…!”
A terrified sob pierced his ears.
Don’t look.
But his body betrayed his will, turning his head toward the source of the crying.
A noblewoman sat collapsed on the ground, clutching her daughter tightly in her arms. White petals drifted down onto her back, instantly staining red. Her blood—blood still pouring out in thick spurts from the wound he had inflicted.
Cradled in her arms, Veronica wailed as if the world were ending. Despite her mother’s desperate attempts to shield her, half of her face was soaked in blood, leaving her unable to even open her eyes properly.
Erno lowered his gaze to his own hands. Hands not yet fully grown were sticky with red, foul-smelling liquid.
“M-Mom… Mommy…!”
Run.
Erno screamed the word desperately—but what came out of his open mouth was only the feral growl of a beast that had already lost its reason.
“E-Erno… big brother…”
The most horrific thing about a nightmare was knowing it was a dream—yet being unable to stop it.
The nightmare continued for a long time after that, regardless of his will. After enduring the same tragedy countless times—so many he could no longer count—Erno finally shut his eyes.
When he opened them again, a familiar ceiling came into view.
His back was drenched with cold sweat. Reaching out, his hand brushed against fabric that wasn’t particularly soft, but clean and thoroughly dried.
The scent of dried medicinal herbs reached his nose, and Erno immediately knew where he was.
“Veronica…”
He murmured her name in a weak voice. Relief that she was alive came second—guilt and self-loathing toward her surged to the forefront instead.
Sensation slowly returned to his body, following his soul. Pain stabbed through him as though needles were pricking every nerve to confirm they still worked, yet he didn’t let out a single scream.
No—he didn’t even have the strength to scream.
All he could do was endure, waiting for the pain to end as quickly as possible.
While he fought his silent battle, the door burst open, and the one person he least wanted to see at this moment came running straight toward him.
“Big brother!”
Why are you here?
Erno despaired inwardly. The fact that his voice wouldn’t come out was almost a blessing.
“Are you feeling any better? Ah, thank goodness. You still had the medicine I gave you earlier, so—”
Could this state really be called “thank goodness”?
Erno scoffed quietly.
The special power that allowed Fenrir to protect the North had manifested in Erno as well.
However, his power was far too strong. A human body was hopelessly fragile when it came to bearing the strength of a beast, and every time his power rampaged, the burden fell entirely on Erno alone.
To reduce that burden even a little, forceful measures were necessary.
Waiting until he exhausted himself and collapsed, restraining him with brute force—or administering the sedative Veronica herself prepared.
Among them, Veronica’s sedative was by far the most effective.
Erno forced his unresponsive facial muscles to move, forming something close to a smile. With Veronica’s support, he got up, then raised his trembling hand—like that of someone addicted to some wretched drug—and felt along his side.
Bandages were wrapped around his waist where flesh had once been torn away. When he pressed lightly, instead of sinking in, he felt firm yet elastic muscle.
His tongue, which had been stiff as stone, was now moving smoothly. When he tested his voice, it came out no different than usual, merely weighed down by accumulated fatigue.
The recovery was beastlike—no, not beastlike.
It was the recovery of a beast itself, impressive to the point of being grotesque.
“That woman came to see me.”
“She did? Bi?”
At Veronica’s words, Erno’s heart dropped.
Why would she come?
In the next moment, the absurd commotion from the day of the banquet flashed through his mind.
It couldn’t be because of that.
No—it had to be.
“Did you apologize?”
“…What?”
Veronica stared at Erno as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
Erno… worrying about someone else? And the Grand Duchess, no less?
“Veronica. What happened that day—you really went too far. You should formally apologize to Bi.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Erno turned his indifferent gaze toward his younger sister. Under that look, Veronica bit down on her lip once.
“I’ll handle it myself.”
“Apologize. If you don’t, I won’t see you for a while.”
“Big brother?”
Why was he acting like this all of a sudden?
Veronica’s voice rose in disbelief, but Erno, looking exhausted, merely waved his hand at her as if telling her to leave.
He didn’t know the reason, but one thing was certain.
Confronting the Grand Duchess head-on was never a good choice.
Then what should she do?
How could she keep him firmly on her side?
Veronica found the answer easily enough.
For now, I’ll play along.
“You must like that woman quite a bit.”
“At the very least, it seems she genuinely intends to stay by my side.”
The image of her repeating those words like a broken doll, even with death looming before her eyes, surfaced in his mind, twisting the corner of Erno’s lips.
“If you make her the Grand Duchess… it’s not a bad choice. It’s true that I sigh every time I see her. But on the other hand, she doesn’t have a powerful natal family bold enough to interfere with Fenrir’s will—and even if they tried, they’re too insignificant to stand against Fenrir. Most importantly, they’re far too distant geographically.”
Smiling gently, Veronica folded a towel in half, holding its ends together.
“And above all, as long as that woman is around, the elder’s nagging will be cut in half. So please treat her well. Let her last a long, long time.”
“That’s the plan.”
Erno let out a short laugh, as if amused by her needless concern.
It was obvious at a glance.
That woman was starving for recognition.
From the moment he saw her face—the kind that could do anything for a single word of praise, a single acknowledgment—he knew.
It was the same look he himself had once worn when gazing at Ragna Nidhogg.
“That being said, this puts me in a difficult position.”
“You?”
Veronica raised her ringed hand to cradle her cheek, tilting her head to strike a pitiful pose.
“Which woman would quietly stand by while a woman who isn’t even family wears the family’s signet ring?”
“But that was entirely my decision—”
“I know. That’s why, big brother… protect me.”
Before Erno could finish speaking, Veronica grabbed his hand and whispered.
“Never abandon me. You have an obligation to do that, don’t you?”
I still dream of that day every night.
Veronica’s whisper seeped into Erno’s ears like poison.
“…Of course. You’re stating the obvious, Veronica. I will never abandon you. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you. That’s the only atonement I’m capable of.”
Only then did Veronica smile in satisfaction and release his hand.
Behind the dense veil, her eyes—warped by burns—curved long and narrow, like a snake’s.
